


Doubt

by soriksorik



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Comfort, F/M, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-06 08:57:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16385096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soriksorik/pseuds/soriksorik
Summary: "I love you, Colonel... and I am with you... until the very end."





	Doubt

Her husband wasn’t a cheerful person… no… he was far from that. Her husband was a tormented person, who had seen too much pain and suffering for his own good, but she had tried to overshadow those horrible memories with a beam of light that was going to be their family.

She had been cautious about telling him of her pregnancy, taking weeks since she found out to word it properly. She had taken the time to leave small clues here and there so that his subconscious would take it all in and help him process the news when she finally told him. Valeria did not want to overwhelm him… 

He had been happy… excited, even. In the months leading up to the birth of their son, his feelings about their growing family had not changed. He was still as happy, marking off the days until the given due date.

The baby had come a week early, and Helmut had been there with her. 

And that was when it all had changed.

The first two days, he had been his usual self, but then something in his snapped and he became detached.

Helmut covered well, but Valeria knew him well enough to know that something was going on. In the weeks leading up to this day, she had caught him awake many times, sitting over the crib with that horrible look on his face, like he was a helpless puppy and someone had just kicked him with all their might.

Something was going on… he was suffering, and she wouldn’t just sit back and watch.

Susan, the next-door neighbor, and her best friend, had happily agreed to stay with Karl while Helmut and Valeria were out.

It was a Friday. He had managed to take another day off to be with them, and Heike had decided to go out for breakfast, just the two of them, and talk. He did not know about it yet, which was why the sound of the doorbell was so surprising to him.

“I’ll get it,” he muttered. Valeria had smiled, moving to pick up the baby-bag she had packed up for Susan yesterday, with all that she would need. Susan has had children of her own, so she knew how to take care of them. Valeria had gotten her baby-practice with Susan’s children.

Moving towards the door, she smiled and offered Karl to the woman, who was already stretching out her arms towards him. When the baby exchange was done and Valeria had shut the door, she was met with a glare from her husband.

“Go and get dressed… we are going out.”

After a little while, they were walking down the busy Friday streets, making their way to their favorite cafe. They walked hand-in-hand and in silence, which tended to be a comfortable thing, but this particular silence was tense and Valeria did not like it.

When they had neared the cafe, they were greeted by the forever-happy owner, Joe.

“How’s the happy trinity? Wait… where’s the kid?”

Valeria smiled, “with a friend. I decided that we needed some alone time.”

Joe nodded, “you’ve a smart wife, Helmut. Get all the alone time you can now, because you will not have a moment for it later, especially if you decide to have more kids.”

Helmut tensed, and Heike gently pressed against him, slipping her arms around his torso.

Joe showed them to a table, overlooking the street, and the two ordered their usual.

They were sitting opposite one another, and as she watched her husband, she noticed his fingers working on the tablecloth, worrying the fabric. Valeria reached out, resting her hand on top of his, to stop him from doing that.

He looked at her, biting the inside of his lip as he did, and she felt the tension rising again.

“What is going on with you?” 

His gaze grew cold, “is this going to be an interrogation?”

“Does it have to be?” Her voice remained the same.

Helmut shook his head then, looking away from her as he did, “I think you already know all that you need to know, but you just want to hear me say it.”

It was her turn to bite the inside of her lip, and she did. How could she go about this…?

“Look outside…”

The request was strange, and it was met with a twisted look from him in her direction and yet… he did as told.

She watched him tilt his head, turning his frame slightly, his dark eyes moving to examine the busy street and the passersby, who walked hurriedly to their workplaces. 

“What do you see?”

Helmut scoffed, “people on a Friday morning.”

Heike rolled her eyes, “what more than that?”

“I don’t--” he spun to face her again, agitated, “what is this about?”

Heike was calm, her hands resting on the table, fingers laced together. “Do they seem scared?”

He shook his head.

“Worried about their safety?”

He shook his head again.

“Do you want to know what I see when I look at them?” Valeria watched as her husband nodded, and her fingers shifted, playing with the wedding band on her ring finger. “I see people that aren’t afraid to go to sleep at night. I see mothers that aren’t afraid to allow their children to wander late, and young girls who aren’t afraid to walk around in the dead of the night. I see people without a doubt in their mind that the town they live in is the safest place on Earth, and that nothing will ever happen to them.” 

She paused then, allowing him to take it in. He was confused by where she was leading all of this to, and she did not blame him. He was the type of person who was so used to people not seeing past his walls, that he forgot that she was not like most people.

“Do you know why they are not afraid?”

Helmut shook his head and Valeria offered him a gentle smile.

“Because they know that there is a guardian angel out there that ensure their safety…”

Helmut scoffed then, running his fingers through his hair, “Heike… what is the point of this conversation?”

Valeria sighed, reaching out to rest her hands over his once he dropped them to rest on the table again. “Don’t you see? Ｙｏｕ are their angel… you and your team are what keeps them safe from the worst things...” 

Helmut tilted his head, not quite comprehending what she meant, which caused Valeria to sigh.

“I know you, Helmut Zemo. I know the man I married, and I know the man I decided to have a child with. You may cover well, it is your job, but you do not cover well enough. I know when something is tormenting you… outside of the usual demons that haunt you.”

He removed his hands from her grasp, sitting back in his chair, “I thought this was going to be happy breakfast between a husband and his wife when they get their first peaceful moment away from their newborn child.”

Valeria sighed, shaking her head. At that moment, the tension was broken momentarily when Joe showed up with their plates, placing them in front of the two adults. Both Valeria and Helmut thanked him before watching Joe go about his business.

Heike turned her head towards her husband again, who was poking the plate now, “I did not have an easy life growing up…”

Helmut sighed, “Heike…”

“Listen to me,” she insisted, her gaze burning into him until he gave in, motioning for her to continue speaking. “My country was not a safe place, and you know what happened to me there. You remember the circumstances in which you found me… I was always afraid that it would happen, and it did. The girls living here don’t even remember that something like that exists, because they don’t need to worry about it. People living here don’t have to worry about an attack, or their children going missing, or whatever else because of you and because of what you do.”

She paused, pursing her lips into a thin line.

“Helmut, I know that you aren’t proud of some of the methods you have to use. I know that there are things that you will never bring yourself to tell me… I know that, and I don’t need to know them as long as you are alright, and coping, but the moment you start losing yourself, I will push… you know I will… because I am your wife, and you are my husband, and I have accepted you with all of your flaws, and if you have a problem, we are going to go forward and fix it together… no matter what it may be.”

Heike reached out for him again, and he slipped his hand into hers, squeezing it. She returned the gesture.

“I love you, Colonel… and I am with you… until the very end.”


End file.
